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Schematic property cleanup in Capture 16.6

mlenander

I'm trying to clean up some old schematics that drew parts from different locations, and hence have different formatting. I'm running into issues with how to make changes to entire pages or the whole design. The fixes are easy part by part, but there are hundreds of them. Many options seem to be unavailable when using the search function, like setting property visibility.

  1. How can I set the visibility of properties across the whole design based on their value? I'd like to turn off the "Package" property visibility for 0603 parts and turn it on for 0402 parts.
  2. Is it possible to merge properties? I have some parts that use "Manufacturer Part Number" and some that use "MFR PN". I'd like to move the "Manufacturer Part Number" to the "MFR PN" if "MFR PN" is empty, but not if "MFR PN" already exists.
  3. Is there any way to preserve a "Manufacturer Part Number" that is displayed on the schematic after merging with "MFR PN" in #2? It should switch to a "MFR PN" so I can delete the deprecated property but maintain the positioning, font, etc.
  4. How do I merge all occurrence properties into the instance properties? I am using a simple, non-hierarchical design. Occurrences are unnecessary, but some of the parts have them. Unfortunately, the occurrence contains the more up to date information where they exist. The function in Accessories "Push Occ. Properties Into Instance" only moves the Part Reference and PCB Footprint, but there are other relevant user properties like manufacturer part number and company part number that don't get pushed.
  5. Is it possible to delete empty properties across the entire design? I have a bunch of parts that contain properties that must have come from some kind of template but were never filled in. For example, I have connectors with a "Plating" property that is blank. I also found some resistors with the nonsensical "Wavelength" property that is also blank. These sorts of properties clutter up the property spreadsheet and in some cases are completely inappropriate.

Thanks.

  • oldmouldy

    1. You need to visit each page and make the required property visible. If this is a future requirement, you can make the property visible in the library part and then it will always be visible within the schematics, you can use the visible "Placeholder" to locate the position of the displayed property..

    2. Use the Tools>Export Properties and Tools>Import Properties, you get a tab delimited text file, delete the first line from the text file and then the first line will be the headings, open the tab delimited text file in a spreadsheet program and make the required changes, save as a tab delimited text file and add the first line back in before the import.

    3. No, you will need to manage the visibility of the properties, there are no assumptions made about the meaning of the properties.

    4. Use the Tools>Export & Import Properties as above, you can get both the Instances and Occurrences properties output, correct the Instances in the case and Import, use Design>Remove Occurrence Properties to get back to Instances. (Note that Back Annotation will get the design "expanded to Occurrences mode)

    5. It is not possible to have "empty" Schematic level properties, any properties added to a schematic without a value will be automatically removed. IF you have "Current Properties" that are empty, these likely came from "Placeholders" added to the library part because it is possible for a library part to have a property attached without a value.

  • mlenander

    The Export/Import Properties is extremely helpful. That should let me do most of the things I want to. It also made it clear what the "empty" properties actually are. Instead of containing <null> when exported they are a null string or blank cell in Excel. I can generate them by copying a blank cell from Excel and pasting it into the Edit Properties spreadsheet in Capture.


    Is there no similar way to export displayed properties for an instance of a part? I was hoping for some way to export all of the lines/text that make up the schematic symbol along with the pin locations/properties, displayed properties with their settings and position, and part location on the schematic. That would let me script changes to virtually all aspects of the schematic. But if that doesn't exist, I'll just have to work around it.


    Thanks for your help.

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